House passes coastal revenue bill

Friday

Jun 28, 2013 at 9:35 PM

An amendment that passed the U.S. House of Representatives Friday would increase the yearly cap on offshore oil and gas revenues that Louisiana receives for coastal projects from $500 million to $1 billion beginning in 2023.

Nikki BuskeyStaff Writer

An amendment that passed the U.S. House of Representatives Friday would increase the yearly cap on offshore oil and gas revenues that Louisiana receives for coastal projects from $500 million to $1 billion beginning in 2023.The amendment, attached to the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act of 2013, would dedicate 100 percent of that money to coastal restoration and hurricane protection, according to U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, who authored the amendment.“This is a major victory for Louisiana. Our state and nation rely on our oil and gas, our strong ports and the economic activity that happens on our coast. This amendment will preserve those assets by providing more money for coastal restoration,” Cassidy said. In 2006, Congress passed the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act that calls for sharing of 37.5 percent of energy production royalties. That revenue-sharing portion of the act doesn’t fully take effect until 2017 and will be capped at $500 million annually.Cassidy said his bill moves Louisiana toward receiving the same benefits other states with oil and gas production on their federal lands have. “Restoring our coast will help protect Louisiana against hurricanes,” he said. “This is a crucial amendment, and I urge the Senate to embrace it.” U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who previously authored a pending Senate bill aiming to increase the percentage of federal offshore royalties. Landrieu’s bill, called the Fixing America’s Inequities with Revenues, or the FAIR Act, would immediately grant a revenue share of 37.5 percent for all offshore energy-producing states, regardless the type of energy produced. States that produce renewable energy on federal lands within their borders would keep 50 percent of revenues, just as they currently do for traditional energy. It would also gradually lift the congressionally mandated $500 million annual cap on revenues kept by Gulf Coast producing states. “With these funds more fairly distributed, we could do a great deal to protect ourselves by rebuilding our eroding coast and preserve one of the most precious places on the planet where the environment and energy production exist — and have for many years — in harmony,” Landrieu said.